Callaway gets in on the intro game

On a day when big product announcements were being made from the biggest companies and when the bulk of its marketing team and tour staff (including front man Phil Mickelson) was shooting commercials in Texas for its 2013 product line, Callaway offered a brief and unexpected peak at its latest tour player iron, the 2013 X Forged.

While company insiders, perhaps with tongue firmly planted in cheek, indicated their announcement came purely on a whim, the notice came within an hour after rival TaylorMade unveiled its new RocketBladez irons.

The new Callaway irons, conceptualized by Callaway Chief Designer Roger Cleveland, are forged from 1025 carbon steel and feature a new sole shape, a face design that features tightly spaced grooves in an effort to produce more consistent spin on full shots, and a progressive center of gravity location through the set that includes a lower CG in the longer irons designed for encouraging a higher launch angle and a higher position in the short irons for controlling spin and trajectory. The progression is modeled after last year's RAZR X Prototype iron.

According to company engineers, the lofts on the 6-iron through the pitching wedge have been strengthened one degree per club compared to the RAZR X Forged based on tour player feedback, while the total weight of the club is up to 11 grams lighter. Meanwhile, the face has been re-engineered to reflect a new X-shaped variable thickness pattern for improved ballspeed consistency.

The standard steel shaft is the Project X Pxi, which is 15 percent lighter than the standard Project X Flighted shaft in last year's RAZR X Forged iron. and the set will retail for $1,000. It is scheduled to be available in stores on January 25, 2013.